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First day of the LMH market season
sees huge turnout
Ribbon cut commemorates 10 years in the community
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[May 19, 2025]
On Saturday, May 17th, the opening day of the LMH
Market was celebrated not only as the opening day, but as the
beginning of the 10th year of the market. To commemorate the
milestone, a special ribbon cutting ceremony was held 10 minutes
prior to the opening.
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At that ribbon cut, Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch read a
proclamation by the Lincoln City Council that had been passed
earlier at one of the council voting sessions.
There were several people on hand for this cut including Welch, city
aldermen Stan Anderson, Kevin Bateman, Dennis Clemons , Steve
Parrott, Lincoln City Clerk Peggy Bateman, Logan County Board
members Lance Conahan, Hannah Fitzpatrick, Kathy Schmidt, Little
Miss Logan County Olivia Harsen and 2024 Miss Logan County Fair
Queen Abbie Arnold.
Representing Lincoln Memorial Hospital and the LMH market was
hospital administrator Dolan Dalpoas, President and CEO of Memorial
Health Mandy Eaton, Angela Stoltzenburg, LMH Foundation chair Molly
McCain, and Market Manager Jaimie Jones.
After a brief introduction, the microphone was turned
over to Welch who read the proclamation.
The next person to speak was Dalpoas. “When we
started this in 2016 we did it for all the right reasons. We did it
to drive healthy foods, to drive wellness, to drive screenings, to
promote an overall approach to health that transcends the walls of
the hospital.
“I am proud of the people who bought into that vision. There are too
many to name names, but I will say the board of directors of the
hospital, the board of directors for the foundation for their
support of the last 10 years. Then there is the Logan County
Fairground which has been an outstanding partner in all this.
Memorial Health and I am thrilled to have Mandy Eaton here today the
new CEO of Memorial Health. It shows commitment outside Lincoln to
the region for health and wellness outside the walls of the
hospital.
“To say I thought this would be the result after 10 years, I am a
little bit surprised about the numbers that Mayor Welch just
reported. So I want to thank the community for supporting us. I
don’t see this as an end point; I see this as a steppingstone to
continue to drive health in the community.”
The next person to address the group was Logan County
Board member Kathy Schmidt. “I just wanted to say I know you started
this out as a health food thing, but the way it has brought the
community together has really stood out to me, the way it has
brought people together. And it has been a Saturday morning thing
that has just been massively successful.”
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The final speaker was market director Jaimie Jones.
“I just wanted to thank the health system for believing in me and
the market. It was a big risk to do this, but I am so proud of the
people who have come before me. It is such a special place in my
heart. I look out on the crowd and see all of you that I’ve met at
the market and established a special relationship and I love you all
so much. So thankful for Angie (Angela Stoltzenburg) and Molly
(Molly McCain) and Sarah Helm, she’s been a good resource for me and
[so has] Dolan. I just thank everybody.”
All the volunteers who help out each year at the market were also
acknowledged and Jones reminded the huge crowd waiting in line for
the market to open that the market was giving away free tee shirts
as long as supplies lasted.
Then it was time for the posed picture and the
countdown to the snip. When the countdown reached the final word,
Dalpoas snipped the ribbon on the first day of the 10th season of
the LMH Market.
On this day, the line of shoppers waiting to get in
was perhaps the longest it had ever been in the history of the
market. It lined the walkway from the gravel road to the building
and extended down the road to the north for quite some distance. As
folks entered it seemed that the line was growing longer instead of
shorter, and inside it was shoulder to shoulder people as shoppers
began the circular trip around the first barn visiting each vendor
booth and checking out all that was offered.
The market will run each Saturday throughout the summer with the
opening bell at 8 a.m. sharp and the final sale at approximately
noon.
Nila Smith
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